Entrepreneurs and small businesses now have a new resource to get help in San Antonio.

Café Commerce, operated by Accion Texas with funding from the city, officially opened Monday at the central library downtown.

Peter French, founder of FreeFlow Research, serves as president of Café Commerce.

Photos courtesy of Accion Texas and Cafe Commerce

Photos courtesy of Accion Texas and Cafe Commerce

Small businesses contribute three quarters of the new jobs to the city, Mayor Julian Castro said at a press conference broadcast online by NowcastSA.

“It’s an exciting journey we’re going to go on,” French said.

On July 9th, Café Commerce will launch One Million Cups San Antonio, a nationally licensed program developed by the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas. The program allows two local entrepreneurs pitch their startups each week to a diverse audience of mentors, advisors, and entrepreneurs. Each pitch is six minutes long followed by 20 minutes of feedback and Q&A. Codeup, a Geekdom-based startup founded by Michael Girdley teaches nonprogrammers how to code, is one of the first companies scheduled to pitch.

Photo of Peter French courtesy of Accion Texas

Photo of Peter French courtesy of Accion Texas

When G.P. Singh started Karta Technologies in 1989 but he couldn’t find information to help him with his business. He relied on one bookstore. Today, entrepreneurs and small businesses have access to a lot of information. They have information overload, Singh said.

“You need someone to guide you through the jungle of information out there,” Singh said. “That is what Café Commerce is going to do.”

Small businesses are the backbone of the city and the country, Singh said.